Anger

"And don't sin by letting anger gain control over you. Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a mighty foothold to the Devil." Ephesians 4:26-27

"Dear friends, be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Your anger can never make things right in God's sight." James 1:19-20

After 28 years of marriage, my wife and I know each other's hot buttons. If we choose to push one, anger is sure to erupt. It would be great for us to never push those buttons. It would be even better to not have any of those buttons to push. Sadly, most of us trudge along through life carrying massive amounts of anger. Even more sad is that we don't realize we don't have to be carrying it at all.

Paul and James provide a powerful 1-2 punch to dealing with anger. Paul tells us to chase it out the door. If we sit with it, we invite our enemy's influence into our life. James tells us that our ears and not our mouths will protect us from anger's tentacles. He reminds us that anger leads us to places God never intended us to be.
Mighty footholds require God's mightier power to dismantle them. We must draw near to God. The psalmist used the phrase, "My soul clings to you O God." We must stop making excuses for the sin of letting anger control us, confess it and turn from it. God loves us. He wants the best for us. He knows that, for far too many of us, anger stands between us and his best.

Grace and Peace,

Tom Wiles
www.fallcreekchristian.org

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